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A-13/23 Socio-cultural conditions for social acceptance of bioeconomy transitions: the case of Norway

Artikkel
Sammendrag

Forfattere: Maja Farstad, Pia P. Otte og Erika Palmer

Under the umbrella of sustainable development, the bioeconomy presents one vision for overcoming complex sustainability challenges, such as climate change, by replacing non-renewable resources with renewable biological resources. But how will the efforts to implement this transition be received by the general public? Among Norwegians, the acceptance of a bioeconomic transition appears to be relatively high, and this study identifies critical enabling conditions in Norway that may be necessary to foster social acceptance in other countries as well. We employed a theoretical framework of social acceptance to demonstrate the complexity of this social phenomenon as a basis for an open and qualitative methodological approach. The study finds that trust, extinguished hopes of a pure life and intrepidness are enabling conditions that make people more receptive to new developments and future cultural adaption. As these fear averse conditions are not experienced globally, lower social acceptance of a bioeconomic transition can be expected elsewhere.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03403-w

A-20/22 Crowdfunding of GHG mitigation measures in agriculture: A feasible contribution to the climate challenges? Sociocultural constraints and enablers in Norway

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Sammendrag

Forfattere: Maja Farstad og Renate Marie Butli Hårstad

Agriculture is one sector under pressure when it comes to mitigation of climate change. To overcome the economic barriers preventing greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures from being implemented, this paper explores whether crowdfunding could be a feasible solution to this problem. The paper theoretically and empirically explores sociocultural barriers and enablers for crowdfunding aimed at agricultural GHG mitigation measures in Norway. The empirical analysis is based on focus-group interviews with farmers as potential fund-seekers and citizens as potential backers. The data are analysed in light of certain cultural characteristics previously identified as typical for Norway. Our findings indicate that, while these cultural characteristics manifest themselves in a crowdfunding context, they are not all-embracing. Our analysis points to opportunities for successful crowdfunding for GHG mitigation measures in agriculture given the right premises and including the right motivated people.

Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography, Volume 122, 2022 - Issue 2, https://doi.org/10.1080/00167223.2022.2152972

A-17/22 Feminist and gender research in Norwegian farming and forestry (landbruk) contexts: Past and future directions

Artikkel
Sammendrag

Forfattere: Madeleine Gustavsson og Maja Farstad
Much feminist rural geography to date has centred on understanding gender issues in rural space. Norwegian scholars have been leading the way in identifying new themes and approaches to examining the positions of women and men on farms and in farming communities, which has contributed to important contextual knowledge of gender relations on Norwegian farms, as well as conceptual understandings of farming lives more broadly. The article has the same objective. The authors review the extensive body of literature and identify themes, trajectories, approaches, and concepts used since the 1990s. They find that there were three main periods: 1990s to 1997, with early work that sought to describe gender roles; 1994–2005, when constructivist approaches were used; and the mid-2000s onwards, when researchers ‘branched out’ to study more specific themes. To encourage a widening of feminist perspectives in Norwegian farming and forestry, the authors suggest taking up (1) an intersectional approach in attending to gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, and ability, (2) a decolonial approach, and (3) a focus on the ‘green transition’. They conclude that, together, these could help to address pressing issues relating to equity, sustainability, and the future of agriculture and forestry in Norwegian contexts.

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography, Volume 76, 2022 - Issue 5, Pages 286-299, https://doi.org/10.1080/00291951.2022.2156920

R-13/22 Tilrettelegging for reduserte klimagassutslipp på norske gårder

Rapport
Sammendrag Last ned PDF

Forfattere: Magnar Forbord, Maja Farstad, Jostein Brobakk, Rob Burton, Lennart Kokemohr, Brit Logstein, Anders M. Melås, Klaus Mittenzwei, Pia Otte

Jordbruket er avhengig av klimaet – og bidrar til klimaet. De senere årene har det vist seg at jordbruket, sammen med de fleste andre sektorer i samfunnet, bidrar til høyere klimagassutslipp (CO2, N20, CH4) enn det som er ønskelig.

A-15/22 Climate considerations aside: What really matters for farmers in their implementation of climate mitigation measures

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Sammendrag

Forfattere: Maja Farstad, Anders Mahlum Melås og Laurens Klerkx

The implementation of climate mitigation measures at the farm level is highly dependent on farmers' willingness to make adjustments to their farms. While many studies have identified various barriers to climate mitigation in agriculture – among them farmers’ weak interest in climate – there has been less research focused on the different kinds of influences actually leading to the decisions and acts of implementing relevant measures. Hence, we undertook a qualitative investigation of eight Norwegian farms that have employed a range of such measures. Most importantly, our findings show that climate considerations are not an essential driver among farmers who have implemented relevant measures. Instead, climate mitigation measures are mainly perceived as, treated as, and appreciated for offering (farm-beneficial) functions other than climate change mitigation. Consequently, our study displays an opportunity for diffusion of technology and practices often believed to be curbed by the lack of climate-oriented farmers. Further, our findings point to a range of shared, favourable, contextual conditions (robust farm economy/economies of scale; sufficient time for farming; prospects for farm continuation; relevant subsidy schemes; beneficial climate and topography) enabling the implementation of climate mitigation measures on the involved farms. This reflects the reduced ability of farmers to act in climate-beneficial ways when these conditions are absent or exist with a negative sign. The mutual dependency between intrinsic drivers and enabling contextual conditions underlines the need for both research and development strategies that consider the entire picture. This would include targeting both critical enabling conditions for farmers and the message framing employed to promote climate-beneficial changes at the farm level.

Journal of Rural Studies, Volume 96, December 2022, Pages 259-269, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.11.003

R-9/22 Hvordan fremme en samskapt karriereveiledning i distriktskommuner? Med Selbu som case.

Rapport
Sammendrag Last ned PDF

Forfattere: Trond Hallgeir Buland, Rita Moseng Sivertsvik og Maja Farstad

Denne rapporten presenterer funn og anbefalinger knyttet til prosjektet «Samskapt karriereveiledning og karrierelæring for unge i distriktene – med Selbu som case». Prosjektet ble gjennomført i perioden september 2021 – september 2022. Målet med prosjektet har vært å fremskaffe kunnskap om hvordan relevante aktører i Selbu kan utvikle og iverksette en samskapt karriereveiledning som ivaretar både elevenes, næringslivets og lokalsamfunnets behov. Samtidig forventes det at resultatene fra prosjektet også vil være til nytte for offentlig-private karriereveiledningssamarbeid i andre distriktskommuner.

R-7/22 Funn fra en kvalitativ studie om bønders gjennomføring av klimatiltak

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Sammendrag Last ned PDF

Forfattere: Maja Farstad og Anders M. Melås

Jordbrukssektoren har gått inn for å redusere utslippene av klimagasser som en del av den globale innsatsen for å motvirke klimaendringene, og en betydelig del av reduksjonen er planlagt gjennomført på gårdsnivå. I denne rapporten gjengir vi den kvalitative, empiriske analysen fra en delstudie (arbeidspakke 2) i Climplement – et forskningsprosjekt som fokuserer på forhold som fremmer implementering av klimatiltak på gårdsnivå i Norge. I delstudien har vi intervjuet bønder fra bruk som har gjennomført flere ulike relevante tiltak. Rapporten peker både på fremmende motivasjoner og kontekstuelle forhold som muliggjør gjennomføring av tiltak.

A-29/21 Social transparency in rural areas in Norway: Promoting or restraining the desire to stay?

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Sammendrag

“Alle kjenner alle” er en hyppig anvendt karakteristikk i beskrivelser av rurale samfunn, og noe som har blitt forstått både som en fordel og som en ulempe i forskningen på slike samfunn. Som en respons på denne tvetydigheten undersøker vi den overordnede statistiske effekten av sosial transparens på innbyggernes ønske om å bli boende i sine rurale lokalsamfunn. Våre analyser, basert på survey-data fra et nasjonalt utvalg av Norges rurale befolkning i 2016, indikerer at sosial transparens har en positiv effekt på innbyggernes ønske om å forbli boende i eget lokalsamfunn. Ved å frembringe og diskutere disse resultatene, komplementerer dette paperet eksisterende forståelser av samfunnsmessige forholds betydning for rural (ikke-)migrasjon og rurale samfunns robusthet. https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2021-0032

A-19/21 A full package of gains? Lay perspectives on a bioeconomic transition in Norway

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Sammendrag

A sustainable bioeconomy based on production and consumption of food, products, and materials within healthy ecosystems is considered a promising response to global challenges like climate change and environmental degradation combined with a growing population. However, ultimately, it is the public as consumers and citizens who provide the market and governance for bioeconomic development. In this paper, we explore lay perspectives on a bioeconomic transition based on eight focus group interviews with lay people in Norway. Overall, we find that the public appears quite positive towards the idea of a bioeconomic transition due not only to expected global gains, but also to individual gains. The findings are relevant for the design of further bioeconomy-related policies aiming to achieve wide public acceptance. International Journal of Sustainable Society (IJSSOC), Vol. 13, No. 2, 2021. 10.1504/IJSSOC.2021.116813

R-2/21 COOLCROWD – en veiledning for lokal folkefinansiering av klimatiltak i landbruket

Rapport
Sammendrag Last ned PDF

Forfattere: Pia Otte, Natalia Mæhle, Sissel Hansen, Maja Farstad, Olav Bjerke Soldal, Per Espen Stoknes og Catherine Banet
Rapporten retter seg mot personer, organisasjoner eller bedrifter, som kan kommersialisere og implementere forskningsfunnene. Målgruppen er bred og omfatter blant annet landbruksorganisasjoner, banker, folkefinansieringplattformer, og reiseselskap. Rapporten inneholder en oppsummering av utvikling og design av konseptet COOLCROWD for implementeringen i det norske samfunnet.  

A-5/21 Farm-based day care on the market: The case of dementia care services in Norway

Artikkel
Sammendrag

In line with the multifunctional agriculture discourse, care farming is highlighted by governments as a promising service—as an additional source of income for farmers and as a current alternative or supplement to ordinary public care services. Based on the rather modest number of care farming services and their often unstable existence, this paper examines critical aspects of the market relation between providers and buyers when it comes to ensuring sustainable and persistent farm-based day care services. Our analysis is based on interviews with farmers as providers of farm-based day care services for people with dementia living in their own homes and with representatives from the municipal health sector as buyers of these services. One of the findings is that the askew, yet harmony-characterised, power structure between the market actors makes professional ordering of care farming services critical to the providers’ endurance and wellbeing. The paper concludes that the market relation between providers and buyers could be strengthened, but vulnerabilities related to such a relationship are inevitable. Journal of Rural Studies, Volume 82, February 2021, DOI:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.01.022

A-16/20 It’s Not Just Counting the Women: Gender Diversity and Systems Engineering

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Sammendrag

With an increasing focus on women in systems engineering at INCOSE, through groups such as Empowering Women Leaders in Systems Engineering (EWLSE), and the desire to develop policy to increase gender diversity, it is important to: (1) conceptually understand what gender diversity means in a systems engineering context and (2) gain a deeper understanding of the value increased gender diversity has for systems engineering. Using a social science perspective together with engineering ethics, in this paper, we conceptually outline what gender diversity is in a systems engineering context. We discuss the value this could have for engineering products and the social systems in which they are embedded. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2334-5837.2020.00822.x

A-1/20 Locked-in or ready for climate change mitigation? Agri-food networks as structures for dairy-beef farming

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Sammendrag

Many countries have included agriculture as one of the sectors where they intend to obtain significant greenhouse gas emission reductions. In Norway, the dairy-beef sector, in particular, has been targeted for considerable emission cuts. Despite publicly expressed interest within the agricultural sector for reducing emissions, significant measures have yet to be implemented. In this paper, we draw on qualitative data from Norway when examining the extent the wider agri-food network around farmers promotes or restrains the transition toward low-emission agricultural production. A qualitative analysis based on interviews with key stakeholders from various parts of the agri-food network of dairy-beef indicates that, if it is up to the dairy-beef system itself, it will develop in the direction of continued increased production volumes and increased efficiency in production, combined with moderate measures to reduce emissions. There is an obvious reluctance to stimulate the consumer demand toward other products or meat products with reduced emissions because such a solution would complicate full exploitation of existing agricultural resources and hence could bring considerable negative economic consequences. Another factor limiting the scope and drive towards a low-carbon production is that the effects of various potential climate measures do not appear as unambiguous. Our study indicates that the dairy-beef sector will likely not reach the goal of reduced emissions from its own initiatives. Rather, significant changes would probably require both push and pull support from forces outside the agricultural system. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10134-5

A-6/19 Cultural Lock‐in and Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Case of Dairy/Beef Farmers in Norway

Artikkel
Sammendrag

Meeting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture will require the implementation of effective mitigation measures. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently recognised that to succeed we need to understand more about the conditions within which mitigation measures are applied, and for this, they note, we need insights from social science disciplines including sociology. We addressed this knowledge gap by using the concept of path‐dependency and lock‐in to explore barriers to change in dairy/beef systems in Norway. A qualitative survey of 29 farms found that changing parenting, recreational and spousal role expectations are driving farmers towards intensification (and thus higher emissions) in order to purchase milking robots, which, in turn, provide increased time for the expected role changes. Structural change is thus predominantly directed towards farm continuity which is making it increasingly difficult to meet mitigation targets in the future. The study illustrates how mitigation measures might be made more effective by understanding and addressing the broader cultural/structural environment within which farmers and their families operate. Sociologia Ruralis, https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12277

A-30/18 The moral dilemma of second-home owners’ position in the host community

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Sammendrag

Decisions regarding second home owners' position in a host community (assigned rights, influence and further privileges - or the lack of such) have a moral dimension. At the core of the issue is the question of how local resources should be distributed between year-round residents and second home owners as a kind of hybrid between tourists and part-time residents. In this chapter, moral considerations regarding this issue are presented and explained by referring to research conducted in Norway. The chapter gives an account for two different approaches to social organization (a sedentarist perspective and a mobilities paradigm perspective) that may be used as a basis for policy concerning second home owners' position, and the moral implications of these two approaches are discussed. It concludes that the question of second home owners' position in the host community is a moral dilemma, where any solution may bring about unfortunate results from various perspectives. Thus, social scientists' role should be to make sure that every perspective and potential consequences inform the debates, so that decision makers at various levels can make well-considered decisions in this matter. I Hall, C.M. og D. Müller (red.) The Routledge handbook of second home tourism and mobilities, s. 258-266. London: Routledge